Tay Fisher, former Siena basketball player and current Harlem Globetrotter, can pull off a pair of trick shots -- a half-court shot he shoots with an underhanded flip, and a 35-foot jump shot that, in the Globetrotter world, counts for four points.

But Fisher's got nothing on his Harlem Globetrotters teammates, like Scooter, who can spin the ball between his legs, bounce it off his head and score. Or Handles, who can make a halfcourt shot from his knees. Or Flight Time, who can catch a ball on his neck and pop it into the basket.

"It's pretty cool to be around players who can do things like that," Fisher said.

We thought so, too.

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The competitors, clockwise from

upper left: Sajae Pryor, Lansingburgh, Sarah Agan, Holy Names,

Janae Lyde, Bishop Maginn,

Cassie Broadhead, Scotia

Cast your votes

Go to the Sidelines blog (http://blog.timesunion.com/sidelines) to vote for your favorite trick shots. Voting begins Sunday. Be sure to comment on the video for a chance to watch an upcoming Siena men's basketball game from the Times Union suite.

Fundamentals have their place, sure, but admit it: You don't watch LeBron James to see the proper alignment of his thumbs when he throws a chest pass, and you're even less interested in whether he puts the appropriate amount of bend in his knees when he sets a ball screen.

We captured their dunks, reverse layups, bounce shots and backwards foul shots on video so we could, beginning today, post them on the Sidelines blog.

We invite you to watch the videos and vote for your favorites.

Meanwhile, offer a little appreciation for the trick shot -- which, by the way, is as deeply rooted in basketball tradition as hardwood-plank courts.

The Globetrotters have been plying their trade since 1926, delighting audiences from Albany to Albania. They're real basketball players, too. Remember, Wilt Chamberlain once was a Globetrotter.

But the NBA and NCAA have seen their fair share of trick shots through the years as well. Just ask anyone who watched Pistol Pete Maravich.

That's where Cassie Broadhead, a sophomore guard from Scotia, found the inspiration for her trick shot -- a reverse layup during which she passes the ball between her legs.

"A friend of mine told me to look up Pistol Pete on YouTube," she said. "So I did, and I'm like, 'Oh, I can do that.'"

Broadhead has no plans to try that in a game -- "Coach would have me on the bench," she said -- but even the most old-school basketball fans would acknowledge the trick shot has its place.

When Lansingburgh's Sajae Pryor thinks his team needs some energy, he uncorks a tomahawk dunk.

When Bishop Maginn's Janae Lyde made a one-handed, fall-away 3-pointer earlier this season, she ignited a rally that brought her team back in the game.

Of course, trick-shot artists are hardly all flash, no fundamentals.

Before Fisher was a half-court specialist, he was one of the best 3-point shooters in New York history, first at Kingston High, then at Siena. Fisher practices his trick shot hundreds of times a day. He can hit from half-court about 40 percent of the time, better than most 3-point shooters.

"You've got to be a great basketball player first," Fisher said, "and you can learn the trick shots from there."